Hello Friends
The photo above was taken during the capsize testing I assisted the Small Craft Advisor test team with. Honored to be able to offer a little insight and experience to an experienced team consisting of Josh Colvin, Simeon Baldwin, Russell Brown, Eric Wennstrom and Kees Prins. Nice to be included in such company.

The photo above is of Southern Cross early in her build. In the back ground you can see the cabin (upside down) of my other micro mini cruising boat Tinker Bell and exact duplicate of Robert Manry's Atlantic solo boat Tinkerbelle.

Right now Southern Cross is crated and sitting on the shore of the Strait of Magellan awaiting shipment back to the US (Seattle) so she can begin her next voyage and if all goes to plan it could be a good one.

The posted photos below can be viewed as a bit of a place holder until I have more real information to post about the conclusion of my recent voyage and the plan ahead. In hope you enjoy the photos.
Southern Cross crated and awaiting shipment to Seattle Washington and on to Port Townsend where she will be readied for her next voyage. This site in the photo belongs to my friend Patricio and is right on the Strait of Magellan almost adjacent to the Nad Victoria Museum where I set sail from.

In about two to three weeks I will explain where she is headed as planning is now underway. The little ship is headed off for a very intriguing adventure and I am glad I will have the opportunity to be at her helm.

It was just weeks ago that she was gone, capsized and captured by the Southern Ocean in the most remote and loneliest of places, one of the remotest on earth. In spite of the longest of odds I decided to not give up and by not giving up she will sail again and her purpose is to do good in the world........as lofty as that sounds. I know this sounds sappy and perhaps even empty but what she is about to embark upon may be a life changer for others, I hope so.

I had a revelation as I struggled to survive in the ocean after being blown off of Southern Cross by a cyclone and it was a good one, life changing. Many things about life became very clear to me during that long time in the water with just a thread of hope. Since that time I have been acting on what I learned.

I invested so much heart, soul and resources into my voyage and so it will continue on in a profound act of giving to others. Watch for news in early June when a web site dedicated to the project will go live. I am honored to be part off a small team of friends who are working hard to make this project come to fruition.
Southern Cross sail plan. I configured her rig to match the conditions I would face on the Strait off Magellan and in the Southwest Islands. It was ideal even though I wish it had been even smaller.
This little yacht worked almost flawlessly in the most extreme of conditions. So glad I put the time and thoughtfulness into her build. Many many friends had a hand in her build and in a sense all were with me as I sailed and explored.

Heres a short update:

I arrived in the US on March 31st a little worse for wear and bone tired. I am doing quite well theses days after finally getting a little rest. I flew into Austin Texas so the images I shot for the film Below 40 South could be transferred over to the film maker. The transfer took some days and it seems the images I shot are quite "Fantastic" as stated by Dave Nichols.

Dave and John Welsford are producing a film about my voyage and its good to know the images are good. My role was not quite complete at the point of turning over what I shot. I also agreed to do several sit down filmed interviews of my experiences. from conception of the idea to sail the far south to my arrival in Austin. I was also interviewed several times by Boat radio International. These interviews were done over a few weeks and hours of film was shot to add to the bank of images.

So my commitment to their film project is complete. Now they need to find a way to  fund post production as the best film footage in hand does not mean there will be a film. I wish them well as they fund raise and involve a script writer, audio expert, editor and a graphics expert.

I also worked in Austin to help complete a SCAMP for a "How To Build" video. It was good to get moving on a bit of physical labor as it helped me get back to a semblance of where I had been physically before the voyage. I arrived in Austin a bit skinny, stiff and with a few healing injuries sustained during my three day fight at Isla's Clementine and Georgiana.

March was a whirlwind of activity as I managed to find a way to go back into the deep south of Tierra del Fuego and rescue my boat Southern Cross. Now in retrospect I believe this part of my voyage may be the best of all of it. It was an incredibly difficult, nerve wracking yet rewarding chapter. Not to sound dramatic but I have to say it was a mission impossible and pulled off by the slimmest of margins. No wonder I came back to the States dead tired.

Thats All For Now
I will be visiting back here a little more regularly to report on my coming voyage and the two books I have been working on.

Here a few memory photos that I will take time to explain later. I hope you enjoy them. I will post update photos of the Voyage of Southern Cross soon.
From my career as a college professor in Micronesia. This fuzzy photo was taken in Tokyo with a group of Micronesian students I took there on a cultural exchange/education program. Fun taking island kids (most of whom have never been further than 20 miles from their island villages) to a place like Tokyo.
Sailing a Yapese outrigger canoe. What an honor and experience to be able to sail with some of the greatest star navigators and natural sailors on the planet. Here I am sheet in hand proving to the crew that flying the Ama is OK. They never fly the Ama (outrigger hull) but did on this day.

My sailing canoe Sylph anchored out after a peaceful night aboard. I have just roasted green coffee beans. I made a fresh cup of coffee aboard and stepped out in knee deep water to snap the photo.
Rigged up for night snorkeling, Pohnpei Micronesia. I often sailed out into the lagoon, dropped over the side with a 25 foot line around my waist and swam for miles towing the boat, which was hardly noticed but always there to hop back into for a rest or to sail off to the next magic spot. Micronesia should be on everyone's must see list.
Set up, loaded and ready to cross open ocean from Pohnpei to Ahnt and Pakin atolls. 
This chapter of my life has closed but the memories are fresh. An amazing place, beautiful warm gin clear waters, serious adventure at every turn. In this photo Sylph is geared up with a ten day supply of food, live aboard tent, survival gear and running lights. Running lights got me out of the harbor. At sea I crossed over the horizon to pain and didn't need them as there is zero traffic. The atolls are remote and Ahnt is untraveled, no one lives there. Pakin has about 100 hearty souls in a small village.
Photo by Hugh Horton. I am on a cruise with Hugh and Slyph is moving nicely. 
Living large in a small space and yes I do cook and sleep aboard.

My friend Hugh Horton snapped this dawn scene.

Morning after a great nights sleep. The ultimate water bed and far more stable than one would think.

The ancient water city of Nan Madol. A very magical dare I say haunted place where I would spend days exploring by canoe and a number of nights anchored out. I have been to and through nan. Madol too many times to count. Magnificent and mysterious hardly does the place justice. 


My speed machine able to be pulled behind a small car.


Now that my recent voyage is behind me I am off on a new project and deciding what boat I will soon begin sailing when not on the extended Voyage of Southern Cross. This is one choice, fast, very fast. 
Or Blueberry


Blueberry


Here a few more photos for fun. Hope you enjoy them..........again please consider this posting a sort of place holder. Thanks for reading! Check back often.

Roasting coffee beans aboard Josh Colvins SCAMP #1 during a very cold winter overnight (wind chill at 10 degrees Fahrenheit). I was warm sleeping and enjoyed a hot breakfast supplied by my friends Ashlyn and Russell Brown complete with fresh roasted coffee at anchor off Mystery Bay.

Since retiring as a college professor I have been teaching boat building classes (a life long dream) and here is one at the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend WA. I was part of a four person instructor team for this build. Scott Jones, Jason Bledsoe, John Welsford and me. Great fun!

I had a small role in the team that conducted capsize testing of the SCAMP prototype. In this photo you can see why I chose the design for the voyage I have just completed. My version SCAMP hull #2 was highly modified but this does not imply the design is not brilliant, it is.

Early on sketch of my live aboard concept for SCAMP #2 Southern Cross. I always sketch before I design changes.

SCAMP designer and my dear friend for life, John Welsford. This photo shot in Punta Arenas Chile during our initial scouting trip for my my voyage. Thanks as always John!
John and I teaching boat building together.


Jaime Gallardo famed Chilean sailor and boat builder. We happen to have bumped into each other and hold the same certificate of merit presented to us by the Armada de Chile for rounding Cape Horn solo.
19 years old on an attempt to circumnavigate the world on an 18' 6" boat of my hand. Yes that is a Hasler SP self steering gear in the background.

Southern Cross, my sailing canoe Sylph and the only other authentic Tinkerbelle (Manry's boat) in existence. My "Tinker Bell" is an exact "Tinkerbelle" built from a mid fifties Old Town White Cap dinghy and detailed exactly as Manry's boat. 
In this photo she is under construction (rebuild) and I have a plan for a voyage aboard her in the near future. I feel very fortunate to have Tinker Bell and look forward to experiencing Tinkerbelle as Manry did. His boat is gladly/sadly in a museum and her sailing characteristics are unknown to all but him and he left us long ago. This boat is a very exciting project for me and I can hardly wait to get her in the water.
Sailing John and his wife Denny around aboard SCAMP #1
One of the sailing classes John Welsford and I teach.

SCAMP concept creator Josh Colvin doing what he loves best, talking about boats!
Check out Small Craft Advisor magazine and Duckworks.
1994 and one of there many small boats I have set up as dinghy cruisers. It's been an evolving process.
Another of my evolutionary models. The Mirror Dinghy African Queen. Aboard her I had many adventures, many great nights at anchor, meals cooked, books read and memories to last a life time. She is now owned by my friend Gary Gnade.
One of the 72 SCAMP's I have had a hand in building. This one belongs to my pal Melissa Denny of Port Ludlow Washington.

Long ago training for Cape Horn solo aboard a Klepper Aerius 1 sailing canoe. This is a summer shot of course, Cape Horn is cold. I trained diligently for more than a year for this voyage.

The Beagle Channel 












Comments

  1. What an inspiring story of renewal and hope. I lost my Yacht to the ocean last year, and since then I have been saving for another. It’s good that you recovered yours, and I hope that you can get it back into working shape. People don't know, it is a different world, out there, on the ocean, and I hope you get back to it soon, too.

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  2. Thanks for your work, information and inspiration.

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  3. WOw!! great stuff, glad to drop by your page. Thank you for sharing to us. Boat seat covers

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